The Sage of the Mind

Disclaimer - The rights of the respective characters are with their respective owners. I don’t mean to violate their intellectual property rights and thus, only my original characters are my IP. 

The Sage of the Mind: Chapter 64.1 [August 2010]

Birnin Zana, Wakanda

–King T’Chaka–

For months, it has been like this.

Ever since T’Challa came back from his education in the United States, he had been confessing having some ideas that he wanted to implement when he became King. Ideas that were dangerously similar to what his brother had.

That brought another pang of sadness in his heart as he thought of ways he could have handled that night differently. The brother in him mourned the loss of the one who he grew up with but the King in him would have done the exact same thing, given the chance. It was actually the most practical option.

No chances of any civil war, no chances of that dangerous ideology spreading to the higher ups in Wakanda, and no chances of the outside world coming to know about them. Just kill his brother, plain and simple.

However, similar words were now coming out of T’Challa’s mouth as he recounted the plans he wanted to enact to help the outside population, irrespective of their race, creed, religion, etc. He didn’t think that his son would be so naive but he consoled himself by telling himself that once the burden of becoming King was transferred to T'Challa, he would eventually learn the perils that came with such naive ideas.

For the time being though, he was an old man barely clinging to his post with the help of his old loyal followers, one who didn’t want to sour his relationship with his eldest son, so he began humouring T’Challa.

“So, what would be the first step for this? Baby step, I mean,” He asked T’Challa who gained a thoughtful look at the question, Little Shuri looking curiously at her elder brother and then her father, the mere sight of that enough to melt his heart.

“An Embassy.”

He raised an eyebrow and gestured for T’Challa to continue explaining.

“An embassy, right in New York. A Wakandan Embassy would allow us to establish a legitimate foothold in the heart of the American Economy. This would allow us to learn more and adapt our plans accordingly,” T’Chlla said with passion in his voice as he dug into his food with gusto.

He internally mulled the idea and wasn’t really opposed to it that much.

“Oh? New York? Is that the same one where the Invisible Man resides, brother?” Shuri asked T’Challa, always having been interested in the special anomaly of New York that was the Invisible Man.

“Yes, little Shuri. The Invisible Man operates in most of New York, with MAnhattan being his base of operations for some reason. We will not be opening the embassy there anyway so that should be fine,” T’Challa immediately began peppering Shuri with all the little anecdotes he had about the rise of the Invisible Man in New York and the subsequent fall of crimes, hunger in the same area.

When they had first learned about this person, more than two years back, his WarDogs had dismissed it as nothing but the ramblings of crazy people, not allowing themselves to believe in someone outside Wakanda possessing such powers.

Only for that misconception to fade away over time as more and more incidents kept happening, eventually leading to the entirety of Manhattan being sealed away, for criminals.

Aside from white collar criminals making that place their secure base of operations, no crime of any sort happened in that place anymore, so much so that people began leaving their babies unattended for short periods of time, something that would have been unthinkable a short few years back.

“So, Father, who will go as the Embassy head? Because we don't actually have any need for the Embassy, we can just make a sham one, without any of our technology and send in some WarDogs to pose as embassy staff. No need to tip off the Invisible Man about our existence, right?” 

He nodded, pleased that T’Challa was at least aware of the dangers that would befall Wakanda should the world come to know about their true civilization.

“Still, the Invisible Man, huh? Father, what are the chances of some other god aside from Base having blessed someone who went on to become this Invisible Man?”

He looked up from his meal, suddenly not having the appetite as T’Challa’s question fully registered in his mind. 

What if that really was the truth?

No. he couldn’t think like that. It was almost blasphemy in his opinion.

“No need to think of such things. It is most likely another American science experiment that went wrong, just like the Hulk,” He told T’Challa and gestured for the attendant to begin cleaning the table.

“Yeah, you could be right. Still, the sheer strength that Dr.Banner wields in that form, I don’t think there is anything that I can do to harm his alter ego.” T’Challa admitted to him, making him feel proud at seeing him admit that even the Black Panther had its own limits.

“Relax, T’Challa. You will be King. You will never be alone. The might of the entire country will be standing behind you, nothing and no one should be able to phase you,”

“You are right, Father. Thank you for that,”

Still, T’Challa’s thoughts were correct. The sheer destruction the beast caused was a sight to behold. He was akin to a force of nature, not slowed down by anything that man could throw at it. Just drop the best in an active war zone and just see the slaughter happen. No gun, no missile, no grenade, and nothing was able to stop the Hulk’s charge as he escaped through the base and then settled down in Manhattan, under the protection of an even bigger Monster.

The thought of someone being able to maintain near omnipresence in a city the size of New York while also actively acting using telekinetic powers, was bone chilling. 

He had already ordered this Invisible Man to be properly investigated but aside from some people he regularly interacted with, there was nothing that could determine the identity of the Invisible Man or if he even had an identity or not.

For all they knew, the Invisible Man, while a very stupid name, might actually be incorporeal.

“Alright, I have a meeting. I will see you all at dinner,” He said and then headed straight to the Throne Room.

Sigh, he couldn't wait to hand over this burden to T’Challa and then watch, relaxed, from the sidelines.

[October 2010]

This was a disaster.

The Stark Expo, that is.

Now he was glad that he didn’t send T’Challa or Bast forbid, Shuri who was pestering him to get tickets for the Stark Expo, the biggest Tech Expo that the outside world had hosted in years.

The Expo also gave them a lot of intel on how the Invisible Man operates. The WarDogs already had a theory but it is now confirmed that there are some limits as to how much power the Invisible Man could exert over a specific area.

According to the theory proposed by his team, one that he was inclined to believe, the Invisible Man was actually somehow geo constrained, meaning he had a fixed range of influence.

While they believed it was still growing, the outermost edges would be the areas where he would be able to exert the least amount of power.

Basically, the closer the area is to Manhattan, the more power he could exert.

For example, in the Stark Expo, at the calculated edge of his range, he was unable to directly crush the robots that were attacking people. No, he had to fling around some enhanced people that could crush the robots with ease.

On the opposite end of this spectrum was a building that was scheduled for demolition. For some reason, the demolition didn't happen properly and the building was about to tip over to the building next to it.

It almost happened when as if an Invisible Hand held it, the crash stopped, the building was then turned to fine powder and then that same powder was deposited at the base of the building, showcasing the sheer power and fine control the Invisible Man had in areas.

The Council was abuzz with the display of power and how to deal with the new threat when a guard walked into the room with an official message.

“My King, we have a message from the Embassy in New York,”

His eyebrows rose as a hologram appeared with her on it.

The second most troublesome figure in all of Wakanda, after the Jabari.

Jeda. 

Sister of Ramnoda, and the fiercest warrior in all of Wakanda.

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